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Monday, October 15, 2012

Mystery Monday: Part 3 Man on the Run - The Letters

Mystery Monday is a
daily prompt at Geneabloggers that
asks us to share mystery ancestors or mystery records – anything in our family
history research which is currently unsolved. With any luck fellow
genealogy bloggers will lend their eyes to what has been found so far and
possibly help solve the mystery.

Click HERE to read Part 1 The Early Years and HERE to
read Part 2 The Getaway.

In 1876 William Henry Jollett ceased to exist at the same
time that William Preston Boyd appeared on the scene with no signs of a
past. At least a past that could be
verified.

William Preston Boyd’s past began in August of 1876 when
he married Harriet Lavina Echols, daughter of Harrison Perry and Clarissa
Atkins Echols. Their marriage record in Giles County, Virginia states William
was a widower and his parents were George A. and E. A. Boyd of Virginia. If such a couple existed, there was no record of it that could connect to a son William Preston.

William and Hattie led an unassuming life on
a farm raising thirteen children, first in Giles County and then in Monroe
County, West Virginia. In between babies
and harvest, William was careful to avoid any legal entanglements that might
raise suspicion. Land was either
quit-claimed or purchased in Hattie’s name.
William Boyd’s past ended in 1924 when he committed suicide by a
self-inflicted gunshot wound.

William and Hattie Boyd
Photo courtesy of Tim Rugenstein

Son Kyle Emanuel Boyd came across a series of letters written
between the 1890s and 1914 that aroused suspicion about their father’s past,
letters that also hinted at a reason for their father’s suicide. Apparently William Boyd’s past was too much
to live with or his past deeds were about to be revealed.

But whatever dark secrets William harbored were burned by
Kyle’s son Dexter who swore the truth would never come from him. He preserved only parts of the letters that would
confirm that William Boyd was indeed William Jollett.

Click to enlarge

The earliest letters had been sent to agencies, sheriff’s
office, and ordinary citizens of Warren County, Rockingham County, and Page
County under the ruse of trying to find William H. Jollett who was ostensibly an
heir to some land and money. They were
signed supposedly by Kyle Boyd. Kyle
knew he had written no such letters.
Besides, the earliest letters were written when he was just a young boy
making it even more unlikely that he would have written them. Surely Kyle was taken aback when he saw
reference to William Jollett’s father Emanuel, which was his own middle name. One letter from John W. Breeden of McGaheysville,
Virginia confirmed that the Jollett family believed William Jollett to be
dead.

Today’s Boyd family believes that William and Hattie wrote the letters themselves out of curiosity about his family and to determine if he was still a wanted man. But wanted for what? He had already served time for horse
theft. Certainly there had to have been
something else more horrible than that, something that was not subject to any
statute of limitations for prosecution.
Otherwise the need to invent a new identity made no sense. Otherwise suicide made no sense. The only
explanation that seems reasonable is murder.

According to one letter, William Jollett had gotten Vinie
Martin “in a family way.” Then when that
fact became known, he rode out of town and into obscurity. Was THAT the shameful act? Or could his involvement with Vinie have led to
murder? Could William have killed an irate father or perhaps a protective brother?
Or was the horrible act something else entirely? Only Kyle and Dexter knew, and they took it
to the grave. As one letter concluded, “and
the rest is known to all.”

Next time - What
became of Vinie Martin? And who were the Lichliters who apparently could “give
all information anyone wants”?

I have wondered the same thing. What could be SO horrible that you wouldn't want the family to know? Surely it can't be an illegitimate child. That seems so "routine" judging by the numbers of weddings after the fact. But if this Boyd family was very religious, maybe that was the extent of the "crime."

I should torture you and say, "Stay tuned," but in short, a Boyd researcher who contacted me and my sister years ago and then another one just a couple weeks ago both descend from William Boyd's children and they both said that Dexter burned the letters because the truth was too terrible. Dexter never told anyone the truth and warned others to leave it alone, that everyone would be better off not knowing. He saved only the parts that would help point family members to William Jollett.

Whoa! Those are some pretty strong words--"the truth was too terrible." I wonder if there are court documents or records out there somewhere or newspaper articles even. I found a newspaper article about a distant cousin of mine indicating he had been indicted. (I could say what he was indicted for, but I am probably going to write a blog post about him in the future.) ;)

According to Patricia (my Boyd contact), her father spent months scouring newspapers throughout Virginia - nothing. I looked for court records as did her dad - nothing. It's like they were all in on a conspiracy to drive the rest of us crazy. (And by the way, thanks for the torture re: your distant cousin! HA)

And so...Virgina Reels...at least the Boyds or are they Jolliets! Anyway...what a tangled web William wove with his descendents spinning and wrapping it up into a real family mystery. I'm surprised he allowed a photo to be taken. Bless his poor widow's heart...I bet she knew something was amiss all along. I'll be back for the next installment. I'm wondering if the Boyd's were tempted to change their last name after the mysterious suicide of their father. My step great grandmother's first husband changed his name after fleeing Tennessee for Texas. I'm still trying to unravel that bit of info, but in the meantime, it sure makes for some good story telling...truth or not!!!

Actually, the Boyds believe Hattie knew the story and helped with the cover-up. She is the one who wrote "Annie Breeden" as William's mother (which was true) and "father unknown" on William's death certificate even though on their marriage certificate William "seemed" to know his father was "George." In truth his father was Emanuel Jollett.

Incredible tangle! Wendy, I'm with you: what could be so terrible? And why, oh why, did the details have to be destroyed? Well, at least the rest that is "known to all" will hopefully be discovered in your search.

Wow! This is an interesting mystery, indeed! I love the part where he changes his name. It's also interesting how he got out of jail to recuperate. You sure don't hear about things like that these days. Life on the run back then couldn't have been easy, especially with a family. It's really neat the way you can weave all these facts into such an interesting mystery. Can't wait to see what happens next!

I stumbled on a series of comments questioning the origin of the scar on William's neck.back in the day when someone was hanged the knot,(noose) was not the same design as we know it today.(the design now is designed to break the neck,supposedlly to be more humane).as a result a number of people survived beeing hanged.they were released at the last minute, the rope was cut, the rope broke from the person twisting (along with the weight of the person),they may even regain conciosness a few minutes after the hanging was completed.this would leave a very noticable scar.I have no knowledge of William ever being hanged or having a rope thrown around his neck, but if my Great Grandfather led the life as told, it would not surprise me.Douglas Boyd

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net